Content consumer is a more discerning, evolved customer: Nykaa

So, while Content at Nykaa has a millennial bent, the breadth of our Content focuses on all kinds of buyers, from newbies and aficionados to experienced, mature and evolved customers.

Sharmila Das

Buying from e-commerce platform can be tricky sometime and more specifically, when the purchase is related to make-up, skin-care among other, consumers have a tendency to seek advice. Reason being, Nykaa, the online beauty retailer emphasises on its content team. The team is at core when it comes to engaging, educating consumers with its products and usages. Madhavi Irani, Chief Officer—Content, Nykaa speaks to Indianretailer.com where she reveals “a content consumer is a more discerning, evolved customer”.

Edited excerpts:

What's the role of content in a specific e-com biz like Nykaa? Even though we are e-com beauty retailer, Nykaa has always believed in the power of content. We believe the Nykaa customer doesn’t come to the site just to buy another lipstick or foundation, but to also seek advice, discover new trends and stay up to date with what’s happening in the world of beauty. Content on Nykaa serves to virtually replicate the beauty advisor behind the counter at any beauty store. At Nykaa, we are constantly developing and fine-tuning our strategies to create different kinds of content, which is then disseminated across platforms while staying true to the agenda of e-commerce. Our content is both transactional—via mailers, Editor's Picks and Buying Guides—and informative by way of the online magazine, Beauty Book, Nykaa TV (our YouTube channel) and Facebook/Instagram Lives.

We stand by the adage, “leave no one behind”. So, while Content at Nykaa has a millennial bent, the breadth of our Content focuses on all kinds of buyers, from newbies and aficionados to experienced, mature and evolved customers. So, while the skin care or wellness buyer is a more evolved shopper in her 30s and needs depth of information, younger millennial customers engage better with more visual, crisper content. Thus, our content has to straddle the needs of both types of audiences.From the beginning, I believed content at Nykaa had to be chatty, informative, authentic and entertaining. Unlike preachy, boring content we are a mix of information, education, discovery and curation.

Nykaa has also tapped into most mediums, including bloggers, other content platforms and TVCs. Our next big moves are in the regional language Infomercial space and Nykaa Network, a next-gen user generated content engagement platform for customers to interact with other customers. The results from Nykaa Network have exceeded our expectation. Without marketing, Nykaa Network has more than 250,000 subscribers in just a few months.

Do you have any role in augmenting sales? Initially, we created content to drive engagement and stickiness, but over time it has also played an important role in conversions, both direct and assisted. Assisted conversion is measured by the role content plays at some point in the customer’s journey before they make a final purchase. While conversions from content are marginally lower than from those directly visiting the e-commerce site, the average price per order is 15% higher. Therefore, our analysis shows the content consumer is a more discerning, evolved customer.

How do you get the responses from your experts and share those with users for their different purchase related query in real time? After so many years in this field, we have a very good understanding of what Indian customers—both in the metros and Tier II and III, want and we have a rich repository of expert answers for their most common queries. We also have a dedicated beauty advice chat facility across platforms manned by inhouse beauty experts who answer product related beauty questions in real time, besides the SEO team that answers product-specific questions on product description pages.

How many team members you have? The content team, including the Search Engine Optimization team is about 20 members strong.

What kind of company policy you follow in devising content strategy? Our content strategy has always been inclusive straddling, interests and needs of every cross section of our consumers. So, while the Beauty Book covers the latest trends, beauty innovations, product reviews and how-tos spanning the entire spectrum from makeup to wellness, Nykaa TV creates branded content, vlogger-led DIYs and expert driven masterclasses, Nykaa Network owes it success to authentic user generated content. Meanwhile, “trending” topics, such as Colour Correcting or Strobing or Masking have a high social sharing value, and our social platforms have developed great skill and expertise in creating visually appealing and inspirational content around brands. Our content strategy is targeted at our key audience in the 18-40-year-old age bracket. While the content on our social platforms is largely targeted at millennials in tone and content, the larger content piece focuses on several kinds of buyers, from newbies and aficionado to experienced, mature and evolved customers, and the tonality and visuals match that.